Retractable tool mount



Aug. 25, 1959 A. T. ROWAN RETRACTABLE TOOL. MOUNT Filed 0ct. 8, 1954 FIG.

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INVENTCR. ALBERT T: ROWAN FIG. 3

ATTORN EYS United States Patent RETRACTABLE TOOL MOUNT Albert T. Rowan, New Orleans, La., assignor, by decree of distribution, of one-half to Margery Fanz Rowan, one-sixth to Donald Albert Rowan, one-sixth to Albert T. Rowan, Jr., and one-sixth to Mary Ann Rowan Application October 8, 1954, Serial No. 461,115 7 Claims. (Cl. 248-23) This invention relates to power tool mounts and more particularly to foldably retractable mounts for power tools.

There have been many attempts in the past to provide powertoo ls that are particularly adaptable for use in the home workshop that have great versatility in that one power source may be used with many different types of vice which has great versatility and can be used to mount the usual variety of home workshop power tools on the ordinary type of fiat workbench that is found in almost every home.

My invention provides a retractable tool mount, the base of which is aflixed to the top and at the rear edge of the usual variety of workbench. An arm is hingedly mounted at one end upon the base and is connected at its other end to a second arm by a knee joint. The knee joint permits the second arm to fold jackknife fashion into the first arm and locks the said arms instraight position when unfolded. Mounting means are provided on the arms for mounting the power tool or tools to be used and a driving motor. A clamp or other device is provided for clamping or holding the extreme end of the second arm to the workbench surface when the arms are locked in a straight position.

For better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the invention having a motor and power tool mounted thereon;

Fig. 2 is a plan View of my invention;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of my invention in folded or retracted position;

Pig. 4 is an exploded cross-sectional view taken along line 44 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

Referring now to the drawings in greater detail wherein like characters of reference denote similar parts in all of the figures, a workbench 1 is supported upon legs such as 2. A bracket or base 3 is afiixed to the workbench 1 by bolts 4. A first arm 5 is hingedly mounted upon the base 3 by the pin 6. The arm 5 and base 3 are so arranged upon the workbench 1 that the arm 5 when folded down will extend substantially perpendicular to the length of the workbench. However, the device may be placed in any position desired on the workbench. Suitable mounting means such as slots 7 and 8 are provided on the arm 5 so that a motor or a driven attachment may be mounted upon said arm if desired. A second arm 9 is shown hingedly connected to arm 5 through a knee joint, however, it is to be understood that any type of locking joint which permits the jackknife folding of the two arms could be used. The arms 5 Patented Aug. 25, 1959 slot 10 (Fig. 5) in the'endof the arm 5 in the side flanges thereof where it engages the arm 9. The slot 1%) at the end adjacent the arm 9 has a circular cut-away portion 11 at the end thereof of greater width than the remainder of the slot 10. Flat sided rivets 12 are peened into holes 13 in arm 9 so that the hat sided portion 14 will slide in slot 10 of arm 5 when said arms are in straight position. The flat sided portion 14 permits the longitudinal sliding of the arms 5 and 9 only when the said arms are in straight position in relation to one another. The cut-away portion 11 of the slot 1ft permits the arms 5 and 9 to fold or jackknife in relation to one another only when the arms 5 and 9 are slid longitudinally so that the flat sided rivets 12 are positioned in the cutaway poriton 11 of the slot 10. The arms 5 and 9 may then be folded upward about the base 3 and knee joint.

Suitable mounting slots such as 15 are provided in the arm 9 for mounting a driving motor 18 or d'riven tools such as 19 as desired. A tang 16 is provided at the extreme end of arm 9. A clamp or other suitable holding device 17 engages the tang 16 to hold the foldable tool mount in extended position for use. The use of an ordi nary wood vise adds to the versatility of the device, but any suitable holding or clamping device may be used for this purpose. a

The mounting device with the attachments mounted thereon is normally in retracted or folded position when not in use as shown in Fig. 3. The device remains in this position because the center of gravity is rearwards of the base 3 and the arm 5 is in contact with and supported by the base 3. However, a latching device may be used if necessary or desired. The arm 9 is shorter than arm 5 to permit complete folding. The tang 16 when the device is folded strikes the base 3 keeping the arms 5 and 9 from becoming actually parallel. If the arms 5 and 9 became parallel the flat sided rivets 12 would line up with the slot 16 and the arm 9 would drop down until the rivets 12 reached the bottom end of slot 10. Tang 16 holds the end of arm 9 out so the fiat sided rivets 12 cannot line up with the narrow slot 10.

To use the mounted tool, the device is grasped by the end of arm 9 and pulled out to extended position until arms 5 and 9 are in a straight position in relation to one another. Arm 9 must then be pushed back slightly so fiat sided rivets 12 which are lined up with slot 10 will slide down slot 10 and lock the arms 5 and 9 in straight position. The tang 16 is then placed in the holding means 17 which holds the mounting device in extended, locked straight position for use. To retract the device the holding means 17 is loosened and the arms 5 and 9 are lifted, pulled out until flat sided rivets 12 are positioned in the cut-away portion 11 of slot 10 and the device is folded away on base 3.

It is readily seen that my invention provides a device of great versatility. The driving motor may be mounted upon the workbench behind the base 3 or the driving belt may be connected to a driving shaft positioned along the rear of the workbench. The driving motor also may be mounted upon the arm 5 or on the arm 9 as shown in Fig. 1. Any sort of power driven tool such as a sander, grinder, bench saw, planer or shaper may be mounted upon the end of arm 9 at the top or sides thereof. In fact, it is contemplated by me as part of my invention that more than one mounting device may be used to mount a larger power tool as for example, a wood or metal-turning lathe which would require a foldable mount at each end thereof. When used with a heavier tool suitable counter-balancing means may be advantageously employed. Suitable attachments may be made upon my tool mount to permit the use of the common electric drill with versatility.

When understood, it is readily apparent that my invention provides a simple device which can be easily and inexpensively made for the mounting of power tools upon a workbench. It provides a means for making use of a number of power tools upon the same bench through use of a plurality of my foldable tool means and at the same time permits the easy storage of the power tools used by simply folding them away up against the wall or to the rear of the workbench thereby providing a workv space when the tools are not in use.

While I have described a new and novel power tool mount, and more particularly mounts upon which power tools can be used that are foldably retractable, it is understood that the drawings and description are to be interpreted in an illustrative rather than a limiting sense, since various modifications may be made within the spirit and scope of the invention defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A retractable tool mount comprising two arms, a hinged connection between ends of said arms, said arms being adapted to lie, when extended in endwise relation, across a workbench or the like, a bracket member adapted to be fixed to the workbench pivotally connected to the distal end of one of said arms, and means carried by at least one of said arms intermediate its ends for mounting a tool, said hinge connection including downwardlyextending pintle-bearing members carried by one of said arms and a pintle horizontally mounted in said bearing members to permit jackknifing of the arms to bring said arms to a raised position in which they lie generally parallel to one another, upon the lifting of the arms adjacent their hinged connection and the swinging of the arm pivoted to the bracket about its pivotal connection thereto, said bracket having means for supporting said arms when in their raised jackknifed position.

2. A retractable tool mount as set forth in claim 1, wherein it is the arm not attached to the bracket which has said means whereby a tool may be secured thereto.

3. A retractable tool mount as set forth in claim 1, in which the arm attached to the bracket is longer than the other arm.

4. A retractable tool mount as set forth in claim 1, including means for locking said arms against jackknifing when they are in an extended position.

5. A retractable tool mount as set forth in claim 1, in which the bracket has a portion adapted to be secured to a workbench and the means for supporting said arms when in raised, jackknifed position is a portion of said bracket extending substantially normal to said first mentioned portion.

6. A retractable tool mount as set forth in claim 1, including means for releasably securing the distal end of the arm not attached to the bracket to a workbench.

7. A retractable tool mount as set forth in claim 6, in which said releasable securing means comprises a projection at the end of said arm not connected to the bracket member adapted to lie against an edge of a workbench, and which includes means for clamping said projection against such edge of a Workbench.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,200,799 Miller May 14, 1940 2,319,745 Napoli May 18, 1943 2,593,222 Tracy Apr. 15, 1952 

